


How to Hide a Dragon

by Trexi



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Gen, Post-Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-30 06:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15091274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trexi/pseuds/Trexi
Summary: Merlin never told Arthur he was a dragonlord, but the baby dragon popping up everywhere kind of gave it away.





	1. In the Wardrobe

Arthur barrels into Gaius’ chambers and I shut my wardrobe. I leap onto my bed and grab a book to hide behind. Arthur slams my door open. He narrows his eyes and scans my room.

“Did you need something, Arthur?” I ask, feigning annoyance.

“There’ve been reports of odd noises from this area of the castle.”

“It was probably birds. They keep trying to nest in my window.”

Arthur looks under my bed. “And you’ve been letting them?”

“Well they broke the broom when I tried to swat them.”

Arthur opens my wardrobe. I make a point of reading the book and not looking at him.

“Merlin.”

“Yes, sire?”

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

I consider that for a moment, putting the book down. “No, nothing comes to mind, sire.”

Aithusa chirps. Arthur scowls.

“Nothing about, say, a baby dragon in your wardrobe?”

“Oh that. Yeah, she was just hiding there.”

“Just hiding there.”

“Yeah.”

“Merlin, why is there a baby dragon in your wardrobe?”

“Well because I put here there, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Is that all, sire?”

“Is that-.” Arthur stops himself and shakes his head. He looks from me to Aithusa and heads for my door. “Make sure it’s gone before I come back.”

“Could you not come back for a couple of days? She’s sick. I was looking after her.”

“Of course you were,” he mutters. “Fine, just keep the fire-breathing dragon out of sight.”

“Thanks, Arthur.”

“Don’t mention it. Please, don’t mention it.”

Arthur looks back at Aithusa and leaves.

I grin as Aithusa hops back onto my bed. “Well, that went well.”


	2. In the Forest

Arthur whips around from the spooked doe and glares at my arms.

“It’s not my fault,” I insist. “She just showed up.”

“Well could you tell that absurdly loud pet of yours to stop just showing up?”

“Dragons aren’t pets!” I meet Arthur’s glare. “Plus, why would a dragon listen to me?”

Arthur raises his eyebrow. “Are we really going to play this game today?”

“She could help. Aithusa’s learning to be a pretty good hunter.”

“You want the baby dragon you illegally hatched to help the King of Camelot hunt? When there are knights only a shout away?”

“Well don’t shout then.”

Arthur looks like he’s restraining himself from throttling me. Instead he fixes his eyes on Aithusa’s and gives a reluctant nod. “But once we’re done, I want her to leave. It wouldn’t do well to see the slayer of the Great Dragon working with a mini version.”

“About that...”

“Merlin.”

“Shut up?”

“Please.”

*

I smile as Arthur takes credit for Aithusa’s kill. He somehow senses it and sends a glare my way. I manage to avoid talking to him directly until I’m setting up my bedroll.

“Enjoy boasting?” I ask.

Arthur manages to frown more. “Kings shouldn’t have to lie, Merlin.”

“Then don’t. I doubt they’d believe the truth anyway.”

“There wouldn’t have to be anything else to believe if you hadn’t...” Arthur’s glare moves away from me. “Tell me you haven’t hidden a dragon under your jacket.”

I look at where Aithusa’s snuggled under my jacket next to my bedroll. “I haven’t hidden a dragon under my jacket.”

“ _Mer_ lin.”

“What? I’m following orders for once. You should be happy.”

“If the knights spot her, I’m not helping you.”

I smile. “But why would you have to help me, sire? There’s just a big lizard under my jacket. You’re acting like I’m hiding some magical creature nearby, which we both know I’d never do. I obviously follow Camelot’s laws like a normal servant.”

“I didn’t know it was possible to fit so many blatant lies in so little time,” Arthur mutters. “Just make sure she doesn’t end up sleeping on top of you or anything ridiculous like that.”

“Thanks, Arthur.”

*

I wake up and casually pull my jacket over the sleeping dragon on my chest. Arthur grumbles about blind knights the entire way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arthur's starting to regret not following through on previous threats to banish Merlin.


	3. In the King's Chambers

Aithusa laughs while I douse myself with water.

“No setting fire to innocent people,” I order. Aithusa bows her head. “Good, now let’s clean up this mess before Arthur gets back.”

“MERLIN!”

He’s still a floor away. I’ve got time. “Aithusa, under the bed. No, wait, the fireplace. Hide in the fireplace. You’re invulnerable to fire right?”

Aithusa scurries into the fireplace and lights it. Well that answers that. I set my soaked neckerchief and jacket to dry in front of the fireplace and grab Excalibur. Arthur bursts into his chambers and immediately scans the room.

“Looking for this?” I ask, holding out his sword.

He stalks across the room and snatches it. “Among other things.”

“Like what?”

“Like small white dragons.”

I laugh. “Arthur, I wouldn’t bring Aithusa here of all places.”

Arthur narrows his eyes. “Why are you wet?”

“There’s a perfectly good reason that I’m sure can wait until after the knighting ceremony.”

He picks up my neckerchief. “Are these scorch marks?”

“No, why would those be there? I know I’m clumsy, but I didn’t just fall into the fireplace. Actually, that’s exactly what happened. I fell into the fireplace and had to douse myself. Yeah, that.”

“You fell into the fireplace?”

“And you should really get going to that ceremony.”

“The fireplace?”

“Yes, Arthur, the fireplace. Do you need Gaius to check your hearing?”

He looks from my clothes to me. “Headfirst?”

“Yes, it was really embarrassing. You can tease me about it for months. Now, knighting ceremony, off you go.”

“And how’d you get back out? There aren’t any burns on your hands.”

“You know me. I’m really lucky.”

Arthur smiles and looks at the fireplace. “Yes, I do know you. I know you so well that I’m sure you didn’t fall into the fireplace. In fact, I think you got a face full of dragon-fire after you thought it was a good idea to bring a baby dragon into the King of Camelot’s chambers.”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous. Where would you get an idea like that?”

“Aithusa blinking at me in the fireplace may have had something to do with it.”

“You called her Aithusa!” I grin. “Took you long enough, prat.”

Arthur shakes his head. “When I get back from the ceremony, she better be gone. I can’t imagine the consequences if a maid spotted her here.”

“I’d just slip something into the maid’s food to induce hallucinations.”

“It doesn’t matter what you do, Merlin. I’m never forgetting that you let your dragon char your hair.”

“She did what?” I yell.

Arthur’s laughter echoes through the halls of the castle. Let’s see how he likes his favourite cloak getting set on fire. I’ll just blame Aithusa.


	4. In the Surprisingly Large Cavern Under the Castle

“And this is where we used to keep the Great Dragon,” Arthur says to the visiting royals.

Aithusa completes her triple barrel roll with a roar of fire. I hide behind a rock.

“I didn’t know wyverns breathed fire,” a princess says.

Arthur’s voice barely wavers. “A little known fact,” he says. “Thankfully whoever let this wyvern inside will spend the next week in the dungeons.”

“You’ve already apprehended them?”

I can hear Arthur’s grin. “No, but I know exactly where he’s hiding. I’ll drag him to the dungeons myself while Queen Guinevere escorts you to your rooms.” There’s a moment of silence before Arthur draws his sword. “You’ve got ten seconds before I start playing pin the sword on the manservant.”

“There’s no need for that, sire.”

“Are you going to come up here or keep hiding like a coward?”

“Hm, I rather like it here. It’s nice, comfortable and out of range of you hitting me.”

Arthur peers over the ledge. “You’re still in range of my throwing knives.”

“On second thought, I suppose I can go back up then.”

Aithusa sweeps over my head and lands in front of Arthur. I climb onto the next step.

“You’re familiar with this place,” Arthur observes.

“I spent two years coming down here to Kilgharrah for advice.”

“Did you know then?”

“No. I don’t think he did either.” I hop onto the main ledge. “He might’ve given better advice if he did.”

Arthur is absentmindedly patting Aithusa, but he realises and stops. “Dragons give terrible advice?”

“The worst. But he’s saved both of our lives a couple of times so it balances out.”

“How long until I have to start convincing people that wyverns speak?” he asks.

“I’m not sure yet. She’s only just started communicating emotions.”

“And what’s the second biggest pain in my life feeling right now?”

I tuck away the fact that Arthur cares how Aithusa, a dragon, is feeling for later.

“Well right now she’s feeling exasperated that a certain prat interrupted her weekly show-off-.” Aithusa growls at me. “Fine, her weekly training session.”

Arthur frowns. “How’d you understand that?”

“Because you call it training too.”

Arthur takes being compared to a dragon in stride. “Well you can’t keep bringing her down here.”

“But it’s a dragon cave,” I point out. And Kilgharrah hates the idea of Aithusa looking forward to coming here of all places.

“I’m the king.”

“Now that we’ve stated the obvious, we can get back to training.”

Arthur smiles. “Good idea, _Mer_ lin. In fact, I think our guests would love to see an example of Camelot’s finest against a substandard bandit.”

My jaw drops. “No.”

“Go get changed, Merlin. It’s time for some training,” Arthur says, making Aithusa laugh. “Now even I can tell how that infernal fire-starter is feeling”


	5. In the Throne Room

When the first noble complimented Arthur on his throne this morning, Arthur thanked her and continued with his training. When the fourteenth noble said something, Arthur shot me a suspicious look. When the servants all started changing their routes to go past the Throne Room, Arthur marched his way there with me in tow. Gwen was waiting for us there, trying not to laugh. She lets out a tiny giggle when Arthur stops in the doorway, jaw slack and face pale.

“Merlin,” he says in that tone that sounds calm, but is anything but. “Start running.”

I glance at the sleeping Aithusa curled on the armrest of his throne. “But then someone might question your new dragon statue, sire.”

Arthur glares at me. “Prepare my horse. I’m going hunting. It’s time I got rid of a pesky bird.”

“It’s hardly time for a pheasant hunt, sire.”

“Oh, it’s not pheasants I’m going to hunt. It’s a falcon, a small, annoying, soon-to-be-dead falcon.”

“I just don’t think it’s wise in this kind of weather, sire. The storm is sure to destroy any tracks and that heavy rain could give you a chill. We can’t have the King of Camelot getting sick over a little thing like this.”

“A little thing?” he sputters. “I’ll give you a-.”

“Arthur,” Gwen says softly. “We’ve got petitions from the nobles in five minutes. Surely your hunt could wait.”

Arthur turns to me. “You better hope that she stays completely still the entire time, or I swear I’ll hunt you through the five kingdoms to make you pay,” he whispers, before marching over to his throne and sitting next to Aithusa.

I should probably order her to stay still. Or I could run for it now and hope Arthur gets too distracted from dealing with the consequence. I take another look at Arthur’s murderous glare. Yeah, maybe I’ll just order Aithusa to stay still. Or hope she stays asleep. I can imagine Kilgharrah’s reaction to this predicament. He’d laugh about it for hours. A dragon is asleep on the same throne Uther Pendragon used to rule on and his son is allowing it, albeit reluctantly, but still.

I stop myself from laughing when one of Aithusa’s eyes open, widen at Arthur’s proximity and immediately closes. It takes a simple silent command for her to remain still as a statue for the entire time the King and Queen listen to petitions, but once or twice, I let her tail coil a little more around the throne. Arthur’s going to have his work cut out for him when he tries to dislodge her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Merlin can blatantly use magic in front of a bunch of people without anyone noticing, then Aithusa can sleep on Arthur's throne without anyone realising she's not a statue.


	6. In Front of all of Camelot

To be perfectly fair, I had no idea Aithusa was even in the kingdom, let alone the castle. I thought she was off learning about dragon history from Kilgharrah, but apparently he must be at terrible at teaching as he is giving advice about magical problems. She must have gotten bored and came here. So it’s obviously his fault and not at all mine that this is happening. I’m not even remotely to blame. I may be a dragonlord, but that doesn’t mean I control dragons all the time. I can’t be held responsible.

Somehow I don’t think Arthur would believe me.

He turns away from the courtyard below that’s filled with pretty much everyone from the lower town. “Merlin, how could I possibly have wronged you so badly that you allowed this to happen?”

I edge away from the balcony. “Sorry.”

Arthur grips his sword. “Sorry? You think sorry is going to cut it?”

“Sorry, sire.”

Gwen shakes her head. Arthur steps towards me.

“Please tell me something can be done to fix this. Surely you have a weird way to wipe their memories with your dragon nonsense.”

I don’t think I even have a way with my magic. “We could just say she’s a wyvern.”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s going to work this time.”

“At least she’s finally talking. I mean that’s a great sign that she’s maturing properly and-.”

“Sorry, could you repeat that, Merlin? I could’ve sworn you were saying that something good just happened. Surely even you couldn’t be so _stupid_ as to say something like that right now.”

I shrug. “I don’t see what’s so bad. Honestly Arthur, she declared her loyalty to you in front of all of Camelot. Most people would consider that a good thing.”

“She isn’t meant to exist! I’m certainly not meant to know about her either! And now everyone’s bound to be questioning why the small dragon is curled up in my manservant’s arms while I do nothing about it.”

I look down at Aithusa. “At least now you don’t have to worry about keeping my secret.”

“Oh yes, because that was the most taxing part of my day. It certainly wasn’t making sure a baby dragon didn’t burn down my castle because of my incompetent manservant being the only one she listens to.”

“That was one time. She’s been better behaved lately.”

“Better behaved? I have to go admit now that I’ve been fully aware of her presence in my castle and have permitted it without mentioning the situation to anyone so my people don’t think me a complete idiot for not being aware of this. If she was better behaved, I never would’ve discovered her existence in the first place. If you were actually capable of keeping a secret, we’d never be in this mess. But no, you just had to take care of a sick dragon in your own room. You just had to hatch her in the first place, despite knowing nothing about raising dragons. You just had to be the son of a man I told you wasn’t worth your tears.”

Aithusa butts her head against Arthur’s arm. “Good King. Greatest King. Not your fault.”

Arthur sighs. “I guess I should make sure nobody tries to hurt the little troublemaker.”

I duck my head to hide my grin. “He may be a royal prat,” I whisper to Aithusa. “But he will always do what he thinks is right. That’s what makes him the Greatest King in all of Albion. That’s what makes him our king.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the last of Merlin trying and catastrophically failing to hide Aithusa from Arthur (and everyone else). Hope you enjoyed Arthur being constantly exasperated with Merlin and his "inability" to keep a major secret.


End file.
